As Yet Untitled
by DolbyDigital
Summary: A letter between acquaintances (I'll write a proper - though not necessarily better - summary when I get back.


**A/N** - Written for the Quidditch League Round Six - Write a letter to someone you don't know very well, and using the prompts Old and Willing. I know that a lot of the time the capitalisations are a bit weird, but that was actually intentional as the italics are one sentence and normal is anther and they both interrupt each other. Hopefully it'll make more sense when you read it.

* * *

_Dearest Snivellus,_

James sat giggling to himself as he read the only two words on the otherwise blank piece of parchment. He traced spirals in the top right corner, joining together several drops of ink in his doodling, still chuckling slightly.

He drew a neat line through the words and began again.

_Dear Snivelly,_

recieved similar treatment. As did:

_Snivellus Greasy,_

and:

_Slytherus Snape,_

He scribbled out all of his false starts, pressing so hard that the parchment tore in places, and simply wrote:

_Snape,_

He sat back, smirking slightly – pleased with himself – as he read the opening to his letter.

It was probably time for a break, but he was willing – prepared even – to power through.

_I know that I've treated you horribly over the years, which – you must admit – you had coming._

He glanced around the Gryffindor Common Room, spotting Lily reading quietly in an armchair near the fireplace. He looked back at what he'd wrote. With an expression usually reserved for an incredibly bad taste in your mouth, he scribbled out the second half of the sentence.

_I'm not particularly sorry._

Another glance at Lily had him scribbling out the _not_, and – after a quick read-through of the sentence – he decided that he didn't like the way it sounded and crossed out the _particularly _as well.

_Maybe if you weren't such a greasy git_

He scribbled that out before he'd even had the chance to finish writing the sentence. He might as well save the ink.

_Sirius_

was similarly edited out. It was probably best to not go there.

_Perhaps if you had been a better person,_

after much deliberation he reluctantly changed the _you _to _I_.

_then I could have seen past your vast differences_

he changed _your _to _our_

_and perhaps gotten to know you better_

he imagined Lily would like that

_then maybe, possibly, perhaps, though it's unlikely, we could have become friends._

He scribbled out _though it's unlikely._ After re-reading the sentence, he also crossed out _possibly, perhaps_. So far none of this letter was particularly truthful, but he no longer cared about that.

_The blame lies entirely with you_

damn it

_with both of us, _

he corrected

_and I feel that if you had tried harder with your personal hygiene_

he violently scribbled out the second half of the sentence

_and I feel that if you had tried harder to be a decent human being_

received the same treatment

_and I feel that if you had tried harder to be the exact opposite of yourself_

he threw his quill onto the table in frustration, uncaring that the move bent he feather and splattered ink across the clean surface of the wood.

After repeatedly banging his head on the table for two minutes straight – and remaining completely oblivious to the annoyed stares he was receiving from a large portion of his house mates – James picked up the now slightly damaged quill and crossed out his latest addition, replacing it with:

_but I feel that re-hashing past differences will only help to bring about old feelings of anger and dislike._

He sat back, inordinately pleased with the last sentence. Yes, it was complete bullshit, but it was _good _bullshit.

_And that won't benefit us at all in the future._

That sounded like something Lily would appreciate. He began a new paragraph.

_I hope that we can put aside our differences_

he had to admit, he was getting incredibly good at this

_and move on from this point in our lives,_

nodding to himself as he wrote, he began to put quill to parchment faster as his confidence increased

_if not for ourselves then for_

here he paused. It was so difficult to describe Lily. Words just did not do her justice. Especially not words that would be read by none other than Snivellus. He just didn't see why she would even want to be in the same room as him, let alone actually _befriend_ the freak.

_a girl very close to our hearts._

And now for the ending.

_Your superior in every way_

just seemed a bit much, and was quickly removed.

_Your better_

had similar connotations

_The ideal man in which you should aspire to be_

was also removed quite quickly. He didn't want _Snape_ to be anything like him, but at least he knew not to go to Sirius when he needed help in such important matters.

He couldn't find Peter.

Remus' suggestion of just writing his name would have to do. It lacked any dramatic flair, but he was running on very limited resources.

He read through the letter once more; not quite happy with what he saw, but willing to admit that it wouldn't be getting better any time soon.

Sirius didn't even finish the first sentence before calling it crap, screwing the already battered parchment up into a ball, and throwing it at his head.

He still couldn't find Peter.

Remus gave him a slightly concerned look, but deemed it acceptable.

* * *

_Snape,_

_I know that I've treated you horribly over the years. I'm sorry. Perhaps if I had been a better person, then I could have seen past our vast differences and perhaps gotten to know you better, then maybe we could have been friends. The blame lies with both of us, but I feel that re-hashing past differences will only help to bring about old feelings of anger and dislike. And that won't benefit us at all in the future._

_I hope that we can put aside our differences, and move on from this point in our lives, if not for ourselves then for a girl very close to our hearts._

_Potter._


End file.
